Recovery from Balkans floods will take billions

SARAJEVO: Floodwaters receded Wednesday in Bosnia and Serbia, just enough to reveal the next shock: Recovery from the historic flood will cost billions of euros that neither of the countries has.
EU and NATO officials are visiting Bosnia Wednesday to talk to local officials about what steps need to be taken next.
Meanwhile, 19 convicts escaped from prison in Bosnia while their guards manned defenses against the floods. In another incident, a land mine dislodged by floods exploded in Bosnia, officials said Wednesday, hurting no one but highlighting the dangers of a huge clean-up operation.
Bosnian authorities say they fear the damage may exceed that caused by the entire 1992-95 war. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said that the damage in his country has exceeded 0.64 percent of GDP, meaning that Serbia can apply for EU solidarity funds. Both countries say they will need international help, and international experts will be touring the devastated areas as soon as the water goes down, to estimate the damage.
Bosnian officials said a quarter of Bosnia’s population of four million have been affected by the six days of floods that covered a quarter of the country’s territory. Some 100,000 homes and 230 schools were destroyed by the torrents and 2,100 landslides.
“The extent of the damage is so horrific that it is better not to reveal any details before we have a clear picture,” said Bosnia’s Foreign Minister, Zlatko Lagumdzija, on Monday. The country lost roads, bridges, water supply and sewage systems as well as the few businesses some towns and villages had.
Almost no one had property insurance in the country with one of the lowest GDPs in Europe and an unemployment rate of up to 44 percent.